By Julia Robins, Staff Writer
Since its inception, Virginia Sea Grant (VASG) Extension at Virginia Tech (VT) has been helping Virginia seafood companies ensure they are producing safe products. Bob Lane, VT Seafood Engineer and Extension Specialist affiliated with VASG, regularly validates local seafood companies’ pasteurization processes.
During a visit to a local seafood company this fall, Lane began by placing temperature sensors, called thermocouples, into empty cans. He then added a pound of refrigerated crabmeat to each and sealed them. These cans are distributed to ensure accurate readings of the heating and cooling profiles of the crabmeat during pasteurization. Lane then connects the thermocouples to a data logger, to create a permanent record of the time and temperatures achieved during the pasteurization process.
As the temperature increases during pasteurization, the meat gets hot enough to destroy harmful microorganisms that can cause consumer illness. Eliminating bacteria also increases the refrigerated shelf life of the crabmeat, making it safer to ship and sell crabmeat at retail locations.
That’s “the basic premise,” says Lane. “To extend shelf life and to protect the consumer from harmful types of bacteria.”
Lane’s role is to review the pasteurization process, make sure the necessary equipment is working properly, calculate the heat distribution, verify that the product has achieved a safe extended shelf life and provide documented evidence to the seafood processor that its process meets the requirements.
When Lane is done, he sends the company a process validation letter. The validation is important because it “shows that the company has a production process that is safe, which ultimately provides a safe product for both food and commerce,” says Lane.
Companies routinely calibrate their equipment and review their pasteurization system to ensure that nothing in the process has changed. Changes made to the containers, the heat or size of the boiler, or the amount of crabmeat to be pasteurized would require revalidation.
Lane has already met with seven companies for a total of 10 to 15 process reviews this year and plans to meet with a few more by year’s end. Since 1990, Lane and other VT extension professionals have assisted over 64 seafood companies, helping to ensure the safety of hundreds of thousands of dollars of seafood produced in Virginia.
